Tag Archives: jim mcgovern

Wow you guys, yesterday sure was a fun day for democracy and we have so much to talk about this morning! What was your favorite part of the great SHUTDOWNGHAZI!!1!!??? Was it that time when the Senate, a body not known for moving with anything approaching alacrity, took less than an hour to strip three amendments from a House continuing resolution and send it back to the unruly chamber accompanied by a sneer and two giant raised middle fingers from Harry “The Stormin’ Mormon” Reid? Was it Peter King – Peter King and no we don’t mean the Sports Illustrated guy – briefly almost becoming the voice of reason and leading a revolt of moderates in getting a “clean” CR through the House? Was it the House Rules Committee meeting that apparently devolved into a sixth-grade girls locker room, with tired (and possibly drunk) representatives just stone-cold hurling insults at each other? (Rep. Jim McGovern, to whom we are sending reelection monies posthaste, told the GOP members on the committee that “people in your party should put grown-up pants on” and also wanted to know if “your Senator from Texas” had signed off on the plan they were debating. Meow, kitty can scratch!) Read more on Your Morning Wonkdate On Congress’s Continued Fight For Title Of Most Embarrassing National Legislature…

So the House of Representatives has been compared to a bunch of spoiled whiny babies plenty of times, because Tea Party. And there have been a zillion stories written in newspapers, the web logs (“blogs”), and in the lamestream media about how no one can control them, except that Speaker Boehner is doing kinda an ok job because he lets them rant and rail and repeal Obamacare like 429 times rather than passing anything of substance. All that came to a screeching halt on Thursday afternoon, when the House had to take a break from its primary Constitutional duties — investigating Benghazi and defunding ACORN — and actually vote on a bill of actual substance. Take it away, The Hill:
In a blow to House GOP leaders, the House on Thursday rejected a five-year farm bill.
Members voted down the $940 billion bill in a 195-234 vote that only won 24 Democratic votes.
HAHAHAHA, John Boehner sucks at his job. No seriously, like really really sucks. Not just that his policies suck, but he is actually a giant pile of fail, encapsulated in a thin orange crust of suckitude. Let’s wonksplain! Read more on Farm Bill Fail: House GOP Leadership Sucks At Their Job…

Remember how much Republicans want people to go hungry? And how much they don’t care about the poors and kids (except for the unborn masturbating kind?) But amongst the fecal-dwelling goblin-cave that is Capitol Hill, a hero stands ready to fight. A man who will not force the poors to eat their bootstaps. A man who will fight to make sure kids are lavished like princes and princesses with at least the daily minimum caloric intake.
Who is this god-among-goblins? None other than the next in our recurring series of Legislative Badasses, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)! What did our hero do?
Rep. McGovern introduced an amendment to the farm bill that would have restored $20.5 billion to food stamps, or what is now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Read more on Legislative Badass: Rep. Jim McGovern Stands Up For Poor, Hungry; GOP Says STFU…

Oops, it’s Friday, better check in on our beloved 112th Congress to see if they did anything (please god, spare us) or even showed up this week. Good heavens… fisticuffs? “One congressman accused another of drinking on the job in the midst of a tense exchange Wednesday night over whether the House would debate an amendment aimed at bringing the war in Afghanistan to a close.” Yes, so, again, as that masterfully constructed Politico lede (WIN!) said: The issue was an amendment to end the war in Afghanistan. Within moments, a congressman accused another congressman of drinking a legal beverage. The war in Afghanistan continued. Steny Hoyer demanded an apology on the one congressman’s behalf. After that, the war in Afghanistan continued happening. And now it’s the weekend, woo-hoo! Read more on Meanwhile, In Congress, A Veritable Donnybrook Erupts Over Libations…

Jim McGovern (D-MA) becomes the first congressman arrested this year for reasons other than corruption. (AP)
Tom Lantos, James McGovern, John Olver, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Jim Moran were all arrested for disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly at the Sudanese Embassy a little while ago. Which, you know, good for them, we’re totally against genocide, but it’s not really news if you sent out press releases beforehand saying you’d get arrested. But still: totally against genocide, good for these guys.
Read more on Only a Couple Hundred More to Go, Boys…